Trauma and Creativity

At the time I began writing poetry, in the summer of 1996, I felt like a divided soul.

On one hand, I was given a public image as the Unabomber’s good and responsible brother. On the other, I endured a personal crisis as I watched my family and my world come apart. My innate sense of self was disrupted by traumatizing circumstances and by having a new, imposed identity. In my public persona, I felt vulnerable but transparent; in my more private space, I felt safe but invisible.

On November 3 at 11 am, I will participate in a webinar with my friend, clinical social worker Pat Fennell, to discuss the role of creativity in healing from trauma and loss. Often it is the creative process that helps us to repair the emotional damage caused by violence or other forms of broken faith and trust. To sign up for the webinar, visit https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/908838438.

My new poetry chapbook, A Dream Named You, has just been published by Troy Book Makers. To learn more about the book or to purchase a copy, visit www.davidkaczynski.com; or listen in on Nov. 3 as I read and discuss some of the poems.

In writing these poems, I found a more intimate way of telling my story. Writing poetry is my attempt to reclaim and reintegrate (and also to question) my sense of who I was and am, to connect in some way the inward-facing and outward-facing aspects that presumably are needed to make a “whole” person. The poems are, in essence, my spiritual and psychological diary over the past fifteen years.

A Dream Named You is dedicated to and named for my wife Linda. Anyone who has listened closely to my public narrative must understand that behind the saga of the Unabomber and his brother there is an untold story – Linda’s. Whether or not her story of integrity and courage is ever told, her presence is a key to the larger story.

In most public discourse, blocks of meaning are presented and accepted with little questioning. But in a poem, everything is up for grabs. Poets do not aim to fill space but rather to discover it – to uncover a world that is less determined, more open and alive. A Dream Named You is an attempt to trace a spiritual journey across such a landscape from loss to affirmation.